The Dao Furnace was deep and shadowy, incense smoke curling upward.
Curled up in a corner, licking his wounds, the Qian family child had already been terrified of Mo Chuan.
Seeing Mo Chuan suddenly appear within the Sacrificial Dao Furnace, he shuddered from head to toe and hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze.
Seeing the child's terrified appearance, Mo Chuan felt somewhat ashamed.
Though this child's Ghost Qi was dense and frightening, it carried no scent of blood. Clearly, he had never harmed anyone.
Mo Chuan's methods of disciplining him had been somewhat excessive.
Especially since he had stripped away his cultivation—in the eyes of cultivators, that was almost akin to the enmity of stealing one's wife and killing one's father!
And though he claimed to have done this for the child's sake, it had really been more out of selfish motives.
Thinking of this, he reached out and rubbed the child's head, only to make him tremble even more fearfully.
"Has an old woman come looking for you during this time?" Mo Chuan asked.
"Yes, yes, sir."
"What did she say to you? What did she do?" Mo Chuan tried to make his words as simple as possible.
"Grandma said she would find me a wife to play games with me."
"And then?"
"Then... Grandma played with me for a while before leaving."
Mo Chuan fell silent for a moment, then asked:
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
The child pursed his lips and said nothing.
"You were wrong to pester passersby!"
"Even more wrong, you failed to distinguish good from evil, colluding with a thousand-year Flying Zombie and disregarding human lives! Did you know that woman was a servant of the thousand-year Flying Zombie, doing nothing but murder and arson?"
Mo Chuan rebuked him harshly.
When his words fell, the child wore a bewildered expression.
Many years later, when he recalled this memory, he could no longer remember the details of what his teacher had said.
He only remembered that his teacher's tone had been terrifyingly stern.
It seemed he had done something utterly unforgivable.
In fact, whenever wicked thoughts arose in him, the first thing he thought of was this inexplicable scolding from his teacher.
At this moment, the child looked utterly lost.
Lampwick Monk, hiding inside the teapot, was so frightened by those words that he clicked his tongue repeatedly.
Good heavens, no wonder that bull-nosed Daoist had stripped the Chaos Demon Child of his cultivation. So he had been mixed up with a thousand-year Flying Zombie.
Luckily, this old monk had been clever back then. Otherwise, with that bull-nosed Daoist treating even a thousand-year Flying Zombie as nothing, this insignificant lampwick spirit of mine would not merely have had his cultivation stripped—he might have lost his life as well!
How could I still be living such a comfortable life as I am now?
One's circumstances were all relative.
Seeing the Chaos Demon Child in such miserable condition, Lampwick Monk felt indescribably pleased!
"Alas!"
Mo Chuan suddenly let out a soft sigh.
"Saying you pestered passersby was merely childish nature."
"Saying you colluded with a thousand-year Flying Zombie was somewhat unfair as well. You were originally ignorant and innocent; in the end, you were merely deceived by others!"
"You did nothing wrong. Your only fault was being born a ghost—especially a fierce ghost nurtured by a den of great evil."
Mo Chuan spoke words riddled with contradiction.
The child looked up at Mo Chuan in confusion. Children were always keenly sensitive to adults' emotional shifts, and he vaguely felt that his teacher did not seem quite so frightening anymore.
"This poor Daoist stripped your cultivation. Though I called it punishment, it was truly for selfish reasons. You are still young; telling you would only add to your worries. If you are dissatisfied in the future, you may seek me out for an explanation."
"I hope you remember today's punishment in your heart and show it through your actions. Do not disappoint Heaven and Earth's nurture!"
With that, Mo Chuan's figure quietly faded away, leaving the Sacrificial Dao Furnace.
After quite some time, the lid of the teapot lifted, revealing a smooth bald head.
Lampwick Monk thought for a moment, then jumped out of the teapot and drifted before the Chaos Demon Child. "Little one, don't be afraid. The immortal master merely has a knife for a mouth and tofu for a heart. See that incense here? Absorb and exhale it, and it can increase your cultivation. You've only fallen from the Jiazi Realm; your cultivation hasn't vanished completely. Absorb it for some time, and your cultivation will naturally recover."
The Qian family child was deathly afraid of Mo Chuan, but he felt no fear toward this tiny monk before him.
Hearing this, he looked around. Only after seeing that the frightening teacher was gone did some life return to him. He asked curiously, "Little monk, what is cultivation?"
Lampwick Monk: "..."
Damn it, pretend I never said anything. This old monk actually dared pity you? You don't even know what cultivation is, yet you possess Jiazi cultivation. How am I supposed to live with that?
After Mo Chuan left the Sacrificial Dao Furnace, he pondered briefly before turning his gaze toward Fu Luan Temple.
After half a month, Fu Luan Temple had taken on an entirely new look.
The temple was still the same temple.
Yet upon closer inspection, it was vastly different.
The Fu Luan plaque had been coated with a layer of gold paint;
The mottled, peeling walls had been freshly whitewashed;
The courtyard once overgrown with weeds had gained ornamental rocks and flowering plants.
On the empty mountain path, sincere believers from all directions could occasionally be seen arriving to offer incense and pray for blessings.
The entire temple brimmed with flourishing vitality.
"The venerable ones of the ten directions are as countless as grains of sand; they transform and travel through the ten-direction worlds, universally saving heavenly beings and mortals. Gathering qi to amass merit, they speak as one to save sinners. Sinners are truly pitiful; today I speak this wondrous scripture..."
The lingering sound of chanting came from a newly repaired side hall.
Fu Luan's old Daoist priest had taken in several more disciples, most of them poor children who could not afford enough to eat. They had come as half disciples and half servants, merely seeking a mouthful of food.
They cultivated under Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy—Ling Xiaozi.
Of course, calling it cultivation was a stretch. In truth, they were simply learning scriptures and literacy, finishing the task of eradicating illiteracy first.
"Senior Brother..."
An exceedingly startled voice drew Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy's attention.
Following the sound, he saw a junior disciple staring at him in astonishment. "Senior Brother, look at the incense..."
Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy turned back, his expression changing in shock.
The three incense sticks enshrined beneath Patriarch You Xuzi's memorial tablet had actually merged into a single stream, pouring down and spiraling upward around his body.
This scene, wholly unlike anything ordinary, made his face shift slightly. He hurriedly said, "Ning Xin, quickly invite Master!"
"Right away, Senior Brother!" The oldest child answered, sprang to his feet, and dashed out of the hall.
Before long, Fu Luan's old Daoist priest arrived, panting heavily.
At this time, the incense smoke still lingered without dispersing, circling Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy like weary birds returning to the forest.
"The incense is unusual. I fear the Patriarch is calling!"
At the sight, Fu Luan's old Daoist priest's expression changed dramatically. He quickly drove all the disciples away, leaving only Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy behind.
"Xuan Yun, you are the most favored by the Patriarch. Ask whether the Patriarch has bestowed any decree!"
"Yes, Master!"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy immediately began chanting an incantation, using the art of Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship.
"Fragrant smoke sinks deep, answering Heaven and Earth; clear incense burns, piercing Heaven's gate... Support the spirit child and let him speak, guiding disciples to slay ghosts and gods!"
As he recited the final words, Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy's eyes closed and opened—and his entire bearing had changed.
"This disciple, Chang Qing, greets the Patriarch!"
Seeing this, Fu Luan's old Daoist priest knew that the Patriarch had descended. He hurriedly bowed with clasped hands.
"Dispense with the formalities!"
Mo Chuan waved a hand, finding the sensation rather strange and gaining a few insights as well.
Unlike before, when he had directly descended through a soul body, he now possessed a physical body. Yet under the art of Ghost Immortal Spirit Mediumship, he had unexpectedly still been able to emerge in Yin Spirit form.
Fu Luan had truly possessed some skill to establish a temple and found a sect.
As he reflected, Mo Chuan waved his hand. The Sacrificial Dao Furnace abruptly spat out the Qian family child, who had been absorbing and exhaling incense.
When the Qian family child saw Xuan Yun the Daoist Boy, his whole body shuddered again—in his eyes, though Mo Chuan's appearance had changed, his soul aura could not deceive him, a Jiazi fierce ghost.
He naturally recognized the true master at a glance!
Little did he know that when Fu Luan's old Daoist priest saw him, he too shuddered from head to toe!
A-a Jiazi great demon?
Thanks to "Shui Shuiyin" for the donation!
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